After teasing the little bird, Steven had pretty much wrapped up everything he wanted to do in Iberia.
The Inquisition's decision wouldn't come so soon, and staying around any longer felt pointless.
After giving Irene a few final instructions, he used the Waystone to warp directly back to Rhodes Island.
Seriously, this mod was incredibly convenient—no more wasting time on travel!
Of course, it wasn't perfect.
For one, it only worked for him alone. If he wanted to bring someone else along, that seemed to be an impossible feature for most teleportation mods.
The command function could technically pull others to him, but that would require a significantly higher cost.
Luckily, Steven had no plans to teleport anyone else for now.
As soon as the three-second countdown ended, he appeared beside the Waystone in Rhodes Island.
Or, to be more precise, inside Kal'tsit's office.
At the exact moment he materialized, the green-haired cat had already sensed his arrival.
She cast him a cold, unreadable glance—her expression was difficult to describe.
"Still mad at me?" Steven smirked, spreading his hands innocently.
"Come on, don't be so petty. I didn't even do anything to you, did I? It's your fault for not being able to resist. How's that my problem?"
He had already expected this reaction.
After all, this grumpy cat always wore a scowl.
Dancing on a razor's edge was what made life thrilling—teasing Irene or messing with Talulah was fun and all, but pranking this old lady?
Now that was peak entertainment.
"...I don't want to see that thing in front of me again," Kal'tsit muttered through gritted teeth.
"That feeling… is extremely unpleasant for me."
Her cold stare pierced him like a dagger, but Steven could tell she was holding back.
If she could beat him in a fight, she definitely wouldn't be letting this slide so easily.
To this day, she still couldn't explain why a mere fish could have such an overwhelming effect on her.
It made no sense.
"Hah~ Well, that depends on my mood," Steven grinned mischievously.
"If someone pisses me off, I can't guarantee I won't just wave a fresh fish around for fun."
"After all, why should I follow your requests? You really think I need to show you that kind of respect?"
He blinked at her playfully, making it clear he had no intention of playing by her rules.
"Do as you like," Kal'tsit sighed.
"I was only stating my preference, nothing more."
She had no counterargument.
Because, as he said, she had nothing to use against him.
Not in terms of power, not in terms of leverage—nothing.
In fact, Rhodes Island was the one who needed him, not the other way around.
Still, Kal'tsit understood his attitude well enough.
It wasn't that he would never respect her wishes—rather, he was subtly saying that under normal circumstances, he wouldn't deliberately mess with her.
Steven loved to joke around, but when it came to serious matters, he wouldn't actually cross the line.
"…Just now, where exactly did you go?"
Kal'tsit suddenly changed the subject, tilting her head slightly.
She continued flipping through her documents, but a hint of curiosity appeared in her gaze.
"I didn't sense any traces of Originium Arts being used, which means… this teleportation of yours—is it a personal secret technique?"
Most of the secret arts in this world were at least within Kal'tsit's knowledge, even if she didn't fully understand them.
But everything Steven pulled out was something she had never seen or heard of before—
It was almost as if his techniques belonged to an entirely different world.
"Yeah, something like that. I just took a quick trip to Iberia," Steven said casually, leaning back in his seat.
"The Inquisition has been looking for me, right? So, I had a little chat with them and sorted out a small issue along the way."
Since Kal'tsit was technically half his landlord, he didn't mind sharing his travel details—it wasn't like they were top-secret or anything.
As soon as he finished speaking, Kal'tsit's eyes flickered, and she set down her pen, as if on the verge of saying something.
"Don't rush, I already know what you're thinking," Steven raised a hand, cutting her off before she could even speak.
"This technique is my exclusive skill—even if I wanted to give it to you, you couldn't use it. So don't even think about it."
"But…" He grinned slyly.
"If you're willing to pay up, I wouldn't mind becoming a logistics company. Trust me, my cargo capacity is guaranteed to be better than anything else you've seen."
Steven had long since guessed what Kal'tsit was about to ask.
If she was willing to spend, he had no reason to refuse—as long as the payment was right.
"Logistics, huh… You do realize you're basically cutting off the livelihood of actual logistics companies, right?"
Kal'tsit narrowed her eyes.
She had no reason to doubt his claims.
When this guy boasted, he rarely lied—if he said he could do something, he probably could.
And as for cargo capacity—
She had seen him pull all sorts of large objects from thin air, so she had zero doubts about his capabilities.
This guy was full of mysteries.
At this point, she had gotten used to it.
Still, she couldn't help but point it out.
After all, real logistics companies did exist in this world—and they were no small players.
In a world plagued by constant catastrophes, international logistics was extremely dangerous.
As a result, these companies were not only powerful but also outrageously expensive.
But even the best of them couldn't compare to him.
A normal company could never match the speed of someone who could teleport between Ursus and Iberia twice in a single two-day period.
And judging by his attitude, he had barely spent any time on the actual journey—most of those two days were probably spent doing other things.
"Meh, it's different," Steven waved dismissively.
"I'm not taking orders all the time—if the payment's not good enough, I won't bother. They won't lose that much business."
He wasn't actually interested in becoming a full-time delivery guy.
If he had nothing better to do, he'd rather be lounging on the deck, soaking up the sun.
"So, what's your order range?"
Kal'tsit accepted his reasoning.
Steven didn't seem like the type to settle down as a courier, and he certainly didn't need to.
If anything, it was worth seeing if Rhodes Island could use his skills to make things easier.
"Iberia, Rhodes Island, Ursus—for now, those three. If you really need to go to Kazimierz in the future, I can add that too."
"No live cargo or passengers—strictly goods only. That's the deal."
Steven stroked his chin as he laid out his conditions, then casually added:
"Oh, and most importantly—you have to offer something I'm interested in. Otherwise, I couldn't care less."
Kal'tsit let out a sigh at his final remark.
Everything else was negotiable, but this was the real issue—
No one knew what this guy actually liked or cared about, which meant that getting him to do anything was never going to be easy.
"Then what are you interested in?" she asked, fixing her gaze on him.
Rather than wasting time guessing, it was more efficient to ask him directly—Steven wouldn't deliberately make things difficult in this kind of situation.
"Hm… now that you mention it, I don't really have anything in particular…"
Steven tapped his fingers on the table, thinking for a moment before suddenly recalling something.
"Oh, wait—I do have something in mind. Do you know anything about the country of Ægir? Also, my 'adopted daughter's' identity as an Abyssal Hunter?"
Kal'tsit's pupils shrank slightly at the mention of Ægir.
It seemed that during his time in Iberia, he had come into contact with quite a few things.
That also explained why he reeked of the stench of Seaborn.
"…Ægir, huh?"
She nodded slightly, confirming that she knew about it.
"So, if I provide you with intelligence, what can I get in return?"
Instead of immediately sharing what she knew, Kal'tsit kept a cold expression, mimicking Steven's usual business-like attitude.
It was better to lay things out clearly—no debts, no favors, just a straight trade.
"Oho, so you're learning from me now?" Steven grinned.
"How about this—depending on the value of the information you give me, I'll decide what to offer in return."
With that, he reached into his inventory and pulled out a stack of experimental documents he had looted from the Church of the Deep, along with a Seaborn core that had dropped from the boss he defeated.
He casually placed them on the table before turning his gaze back to the green catgirl in front of him, smiling.
"These documents don't hold much value for Rhodes Island, and I already have a rough idea of what they contain. But this core…"
Kal'tsit barely glanced at the documents—but the moment her eyes landed on the core, she immediately focused on it.
"…You took down a named Seaborn?"
She could sense the sheer power contained within the core.
This wasn't just any ordinary Seaborn—it was something far beyond that.
And yet, Steven had casually tossed it onto the table like it was nothing.
Just how strong was this kid?
<+>
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